Mark McMorris proves social media key to making sponsors happy

Olympic bronze medallist and reigning X-Games champion, Mark McMorris is doing it right. Intimate access. Authentic posts. Directly engaging with the audience. He's essentially a 'how-to' model for athlete success in social media.

From his YouTube following to his Instagram, Facebook and Twitter popularity, McMorris has accounts worth money to his main sponsors, Red Bull and Burton. He shares pictures and videos from around the world highlighting his snowboarding, his personal life and his relationship with pro-surfer girlfriend Coco Ho. He has a knack for making you feel envious yet included. 

McMorris' posts are so authentic you feel like you know him and make you crave more. He reminds us of his success, like this podium shot after his win at the Dew Tour.

Sharing with his followers what life is like vacationing with Coco.

Even giving us a glimpse into his youth with this fun classic throwback Thursday post.

Red Bull recognizes this and uses McMorris as a vehicle to create content, as opposed to merely act as a traditional product pitchman. The trailer for the Red Bull-sponsored McMorris documentary, "In Motion," has about 100,000 views on YouTube and McMorris videos are heavily promoted on the Red Bull YouTube channel, which boasts nearly five million subscribers.

It's no secret that sponsors find value in associating with athletes as popular as McMorris over social platforms. But what McMorris does, fairly naturally, has become the new expectation. Full access and sponsor integration, on and off the playing field.

Increasingly, sponsors are emphasizing social popularity in their consideration of which athletes to sponsor. With 468,000 followers on Instagram, McMorris can reach a greater audience through social platforms than he can on traditional TV broadcasts. The shifting landscape of content consumption from broadcast to digital requires brands to replicate what McMorris and his sponsors have succeeded at – fully integrating brands with an athlete across multiple platforms by creating intimate and authentic stories. 

Most sponsorship agreements are now trending towards including specific social deliverables. Brands are funding content creation to ensure quality control and maximum distribution, leveraging the athlete's network as well as brand, pop culture and sport fans. The more authentic and intimate the content, the better. McMorris with his Burton boards.

The Dufour-Lapointe sisters behind the scenes at a Jean Coutu photoshoot. 

As brands use social platforms more to directly reach an athlete's followers, popularity becomes paramount. Athletic success becomes a means of attaining that social popularity. 

Being the best is no longer good enough to attract top sponsors. You need to be best and the most popular.